KISS icon Paul Stanley opened up about the importance of songwriting and made a heartfelt appeal to his fans during an appearance on the Track Star podcast.
Stanley spoke about him and Gene Simmons being inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame. He reflected on the craft of songwriting and what the recognition means to him.
“Songwriters Hall of Fame. It’s amazing, you know, because again, you can have lasers and smoke bombs and everything else, but you’ve got to have a song, you know, without a song, you’ve got nothing,” Stanley said.
He went on to emphasize that songwriting is a skill that requires dedication and intentional effort. It is not something that comes automatically.
“Anybody can write a song. There’s enough of that out there. But it doesn’t make you a songwriter. That’s a craft you work at. And it’s something that we emulated. And to be embraced by your contemporaries and by your peers and by the people who are up there, it’s humbling,” he continued.
Stanley then shifted to a more personal and emotional note. He urged fans and peers not to wait until he is gone to express their appreciation.
“But I say at this point in my life, if you love me, let me know now. Don’t put in my no. Don’t put in my obituary. Don’t put it in a eulogy. Let me know. Come on. You love me. Let me hear it,” he said.
The 2026 induction marks the first time the two KISS founders have been honored specifically for their songwriting. This distinction sets the recognition apart from the band’s previous accolades.
The Songwriters Hall of Fame highlighted a catalog of KISS anthems when announcing the honor. It singled out “Rock and Roll All Nite,” “I Love It Loud,” “Calling Dr. Love,” “Shout It Out Loud,” and “Christine Sixteen” as key works in Stanley and Simmons’s body of work. These songs represent decades of deliberate craft, not just the spectacle that KISS became famous for.
Stanley has written or co-written many of the band’s highest-charting hits, including “Detroit Rock City,” “I Was Made for Lovin’ You,” and “Forever.” His contributions stretch across the full arc of KISS’s career, from their hard rock origins in the early 1970s through their commercial peak and beyond.
Stanley and Simmons have long championed the idea that the theatrical elements of KISS were always built on a foundation of strong songs. The makeup, the pyrotechnics, and the elaborate stage productions were never the core of what made the band endure. Without strong songs beneath the spectacle, none of it would have lasted.
For Stanley, the Songwriters Hall of Fame induction is not just a career milestone. It is a validation of a philosophy he has held since the beginning — that songwriting is a craft earned through discipline and dedication, and that the songs, more than anything else, are what endure.
